Sermon Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.
Pentecost in Acts
So, I want to talk very briefly, and you know for me very briefly is a relative term, and then I want us to have another season of worship because it relates to the ministry of the Spirit in our midst.
First thing I want to say is that, well, let’s open our Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 2. Catechism? Do we want the kids to go to catechism? Who is that? A bond of course. Of course. Alright, so we’re going to have Catechism class? Yeah, we should do that. Alright. So if you are in Catechism class, you can be dismissed quietly while everybody else opens their Bible to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. So you know Acts. You read it. Everybody read Acts 2. Raise your hand. You read it. Okay. It says in chapter 2 verse 1, when the day of Pentecost that fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues. The old King James says cloven tongues. I love that cloven tongue. Once sat upon each of them and they were all filled with And then there’s people around different regions and different languages who could understand what was being said, and this of course was miraculous. So what’s happening, what’s going on? Well, then Peter stands up and he says, in verse 14, Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass, now this is Joel being quoted, It will come to pass, and the last day it says to God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my men servants and on my maid servants I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. Now we shall wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon into before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then Peter goes on to explain that this phenomenon at Pentecost of the giving of the fullness of the Holy Spirit was a result of the work of Jesus. So he immediately goes in and talks about the fact that Jesus was crucified. However, although Jesus died, Jesus rose from the dead. Amen.
He’s not dead. Jesus is not dead. He’s alive. And he was not only alive and seen of witnesses, Jesus ascended up into heaven. Now this was recorded in Acts 1, which we’re going to look at in a moment. But notice verse 32, this Jesus was raised up, of which we are all witnesses, therefore being exalted at the right hand of God. So he’s not only raised, he’s now ascended and seated and exalted next to the Father, And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He, Jesus, so he’s talking about, poured out this which you now see in here. In other words, the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel was accomplished by Jesus.
Jesus fulfilled that prophecy by purchasing the gift of the Holy Spirit for the church, Ascending to heaven and then from his throne. He poured the spirit out on the church Pretty awesome, huh? now the It’s a pretty interesting to look at The Apostles before Pentecost and then after Because they’re not the same people and And, you know, theologians who get paid to argue about things, you know, they’re like, well, were they really saved before then? Did they really believe? Did they really have the Holy Spirit? And they ask all these questions. Good questions, but whatever side you fall on, on those questions, the reality is that in practice, they were transformed. And that transformation was a product of the work of the Holy Spirit, the fullness, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them and in them, if you will.
The Old and the New Covenant
When we think of the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant, we can think of several differences, right? As a matter of fact, if you read the book of Hebrews, what you see is the writer of Hebrews says, the New Covenant is better because we have a better priesthood.
The high priest is Jesus, right? And then we are all believer priests. He says the new covenant is better because the sacrifice or sacrifices of the old covenant never really took away sin, but the sacrifice of the new covenant, which is Jesus, this truly took away sin once and for all. And so we see a series of contrasts between the old covenant and the new covenant.
One of the grand distinctions, well I’m just going to read a quote for you because this gets at the heart of the matter. When we think about what real Christianity is, real Christianity, this is the heart of the matter. This is by A.B. Bruce in his work on Hebrews. He says, the grand distinction and merit of the Christian religion for the writer of Hebrews is that it brings men near to God. It is the religion of free access and intimate fellowship. Did you hear that? He is the religion of free access and intimate fellowship. The value of this peculiarity is heightened by contrast with the antecedent Levitical religion. He’s talking about what the writers do in Hebrews. Which is shown to have been a religion that failed to render this supreme service to the worshippers. It did not bring the Israelite near to God. in fear at a distance. The effect was to make God for the common mind, meaning in Israel, an unapproachable being dwelling in isolation and darkness. And then he goes on to say this and this is the heart of the Christian faith and this is what makes Christianity not only superior to Judaism but superior to any other supposed religion. This radical difference between the two religions implies and rests on a difference in their respective provisions for dealing with human sin. For sin is the Great Separator.
Sin creates a gulf between man and God. The sinner is afraid to come near to the Holy One. And the penitent sinner even trembles at the thought of entering into the Divine presence. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt afraid to enter God’s presence?
I actually hope so, because it shows you have a fear of God. However, the sinner needs to be assured of his welcome. Means for overcoming his suspicion and Hread must be provided. Judged by this test, Leviticalism is held to have failed. It did not perfect the worshipper as to conscience. It did not give him the adequate assurance that his sin was forgiven and that God was gracious.
He says Christianity, on the other hand, or I would say Christ, on the other hand, satisfies all requirements.
It cleanses the conscience and gives boldness to come into the presence of God.
I read an article some time ago in which one of these sociological studies of the church kind of thing, generally pretty boring, in which the respondents to the survey, up to 40% of the respondents to the survey said that although they go to church regularly, They did not feel that church helped them connect with God. There was not a reality of God. Now those surveys are difficult because are the people really Christians? You don’t know. You know what I mean? A lot of Christians, I’m a Christian, and it just means they live in America. Doesn’t really mean anything. So are they? I don’t know. But let me say this. If we come to church and do not connect with God. If we come to church and do not enter into the presence of God, we’re missing the whole point. I mean the whole point. The whole point of what Jesus did. The whole point of what Jesus did on the cross was to remove what Bruce calls the Great Separator.
The Great Separator
And the Great Separator is what? It is sin. And there’s only two options regarding sin. Frivolity, or whether you remove it or Jesus removes it. And I can’t remove my sin. Can you remove yours? No, you can’t. So we are thrown on the mercy of God and thank God He has given us His Son as an atonement for our sin and our sin has been paid for. And because our sin has been paid for, the great separator has been removed. And because that separator is removed, I, although in myself, I am unworthy to enter the presence of the holy God, yet because Jesus has removed my sin, I can now enter into his presence. I have access to God. I mean, are you hearing what I’m saying? Access to God. Not just access to the Bible, not just access to church, but access to God. This is the grand distinction between the old covenant and the new, the grand distinction between religion by works and religion by grace. It’s who will do the saving. God saves through his son Jesus. Now what does this have to do with the Holy Spirit? This. Jesus said that he was going to leave, but it was good that he left the earth because then He would give His Holy Spirit, and His Holy Spirit then would be the person who would reveal to-to us the Son and the Father. No one can know the Son except the Father, right? And no one can know the Father except through the Son. But we cannot know the Father or the Son except through the Holy Spirit. Now we can know about Him, but we can’t know Him. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to take the things of Christ and the things of God and reveal them to the believer in such a way that they become, are you listening? Say yes. Experiential realities. They’re not just doctrines, they’re not just ideas, they’re not just a Christian world or a philosophy. They are experiential realities in the life of the believer because the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in the believer. And he makes the things of Christ real to the Christian. And so as Christians, if we’re truly Christians, and we’ve been born again of God’s Spirit, then the Holy Spirit resides in us and his ministry is to open to us the things of God and to allow us to have communion and fellowship with the Father and with the Son.
That’s what he does. That’s what he does. And the thing we need to understand is that if we, as professing Christians, do not walk in the Spirit, if we’re not yielding to the Spirit, if we’re not allowing him to do what he is supposed to do, we’re really living as if we’re in the Old Covenant. They worshiped, they prayed, they had the Word, right? But they didn’t have access, like we do. Sadly, I think a lot of our churches today are filled with Pharisees. Pharisees were believers. Pharisees knew the Bible, but Pharisees didn’t have access. And we can be about the rules and the regulations and the ideas and even the doctrines, and that all has its place. But if it’s not balanced with fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit, then we’re not living as Christians, we’re living as Pharisees. We have a gift. They were not given. And that is the gift of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Acts 1, right before He ascended, it says in verse 4 here, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, you have heard from Me.
The Promise of the Spirit
For John truly baptized with water, but you should be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. The promise from the Father. When you read the book of Galatians, Paul talks about salvation by faith. Oh, let’s read it real quick. He says, oh foolish Galatians, verse 1, who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? On what basis did God give you the Holy Spirit? Works or faith? Faith. What’s the answer? It’s faith, right? Are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit, meaning getting saved by the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the flesh? Is it not true that many Christians, and they’re real Christians because they really are saved, try to life in the power of the flesh? Is that not true? They begin in the spirit, they end up in the flesh. They like principles and regulations and rules and guidelines, and they’re not having vital fellowship with God. They’re not allowing the spirit to have his way. They’re not living this spirit-filled life. Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He will supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you. Does He do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? It’s by faith. You’re saved by faith. Whenever you came to Jesus Christ, whenever that was, you were saved by faith at that moment. And guess what? You’re saved by faith today. You’re saved by faith always. You’re always saved the same way. Always. It’s always by grace. It’s always through faith and it’s always through the work of the Holy Spirit in you. It is not you working for God. It is God working in you. It’s an awesome thing. I don’t have to save myself. God saves me. And Paul then goes on and he’s talking about Abraham’s faith and he says, we’re blessed with Abraham. But then notice this, 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written curses everyone who hangs on a tree that the blessing of Abraham might come upon all the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. One- One of the key promises of the new covenant, one of the key provisions of the new covenant is the promise of the fullness of the Spirit. You know what you do with a promise? You believe. You don’t work for a promise. You believe. Faith is the key to receiving a promise. God has a promise for every Christian, if they’re truly a Christian, that He will give them the Holy Spirit, and through that Holy Spirit, they can have access to the Father.
Now that’s pretty sweet. Because you know what to find? That when you have access to the Father, you know what you find when you actually have fellowship with God? You have joy. You have peace. You have power. God changes your life by knowing Him. Not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him. He changes your life.
It’s not just a gift that he gives us. When God gives us eternal life, he gives us himself, himself, in the person of his Holy Spirit. So we have access through the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost, and we ought to celebrate that. We ought to celebrate that. Because all the work of Jesus, which we celebrated Christmas and All that work is for naught in a person’s life if the Holy Spirit does not have His way. Do you understand that? And we say Jesus changed my life. Well, yeah, He does. But He does it through the person of the Holy Spirit that He gives you. So we have to celebrate the fulfillment of that promise, and we ought to believe that promise for ourselves, for each one of us. that we, that I, as an individual, have access to the Father. I do. Amen? Do you have access?
Amen?